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Future of Sycamore Wendy’s property not clear

By ADAM POULISSE -
apoulisse@shawmedia.com

March 29, 2015

Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com

Caption

The Wendy's restaurant sits boarded up and fenced off at 439 E. State St. in Sycamore after a Jan. 9 fire left the restaurant inoperable. Sycamore officials say the owners have not said what they plan to do with the property.

SYCAMORE – The Wendy’s restaurant destroyed by a fire in January will eventually be razed for a new business, but the city of Sycamore doesn’t know when.

“We don’t have any definitive information,” said John Sauter, building and engineering director. “Obviously, we know the building will be demolished, but whether [Wendy’s] will be rebuilt or not has not been discussed at the city level.”

Fire officials in January estimated the damage to be about $500,000, or a total loss.

The restaurant at 439 E. State St. was owned by QSC Management Group Inc. in Batavia until 2013, when it was sold to WenZak Inc. They could not be reached for comment.

Fire Chief Pete Polarek said the property has been returned to the owner to be assessed for insurance purposes.

The cause of the fire remains undetermined, Polarek said.

“The case is still left open in the sense [that] it’s under investigation,” he said.

Crews from Sycamore, Malta, Kirkland, DeKalb, Genoa-Kingston and Cortland responded to the blaze in frigid single-digit temperatures. Smoke could be seen for miles.

Sauter said the area, which is between a shopping center that includes a Family Dollar and the former Browns’ County Market building and a busy street, is “a prime location.”

“There are any number of businesses that would benefit from being by the east corridor. Certainly, any type of food business,” he said. “I think the city at this point is in wait-and-see mode to see what [the owners] want to do.”